Good morning! I’ll be here to guide you through the latest finance and economic news.
The local share market is likely to open higher, with ASX futures pointing to a moderate increase of around 0.7%.
If that happens, there’s a chance the market will hit a new record high today.
The Australian dollar is slightly weaker (-0.6%) at 66.65 US cents.
In economic news, the latest jobs data will be published by the Bureau of Statistics (ABS) at 11:30am.
It’s expected to show Australia’s unemployment rate remaining steady at 4.2% in September (with the possibility it might even rise slightly to 4.3%), according to economists polled by Reuters.
Around 25,000 workers are estimated to have started new jobs last month (which would be a significant slowdown from the August result of 47,5000 new hires).
The Reserve Bank will be paying close attention to these job numbers.
If they show the jobs market is stronger-than-expected, there is a risk it will force the RBA to keep interest rates on hold for longer and, therefore, delay any cuts to borrowing costs.
Australian shares are expected to follow a positive overnight lead from US markets.
The Dow Jones index gained 0.8%, to finish at 43,078 points (its highest level ever), while Wall Street’s two other benchmark indexes, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite, rose 0.5% and 0.3% respectively.
On a broadly positive day for Wall Street, it was financial stocks which led the way.
Morgan Stanley posted a record close, jumping 6.5%, as it was the latest bank to report better-than-expected profits, following a sharp lift in investment banking revenue.
Among the big-tech names which weighed on the market, Apple dipped 0.9% (after hitting a record high in the previous session).
Alphabet, Meta and Microsoft all slipped between 0.2% and 1.6%.
AI chipmaker Nvidia bucked the megacap slide, rising 3.1% (after slumping nearly 5% in the previous trading session).
Gains in the so-called ‘Magnificent Seven’ group of high-growth tech stocks have driven most of Wall Street’s record-breaking run this year.
However, with valuations increasingly stretched and a brighter economic outlook, investors have been seeking opportunities elsewhere (like financial, energy, materials and other traditional ‘value’ sectors).